Canine conundrum: Did dog days dawn in Europe?

Is it a wolf? Is it a dog? No, it’s a Czechoslovakian Wolfdog.

dutch-tiger

Dogs have a special connection with humans, more so than any other animal. But until recently, little was known about how we formed this bond. Charles Darwin once speculated: “I do not believe… that all our dogs have descended from any one wild species.” Modern genetic tools now show that Darwin’s guess was wrong. All dogs seem to have descended from gray wolves. But if that is the case, when and where did the process of domestication begin?

There have been conflicting ideas about dogs' origins. Genetic studies have suggested the Middle East and East Asia. Now, if a new study published in Science by Olaf Thalmann at the University of Turku and colleagues is right, we have a different possible answer. Thalmann’s claim, based on a comprehensive genetic analysis of fossils and modern-day species, suggests that dogs were first domesticated in Europe at a time when humans were still hunter-gatherers.

The analysis is based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is passed down from mothers to their children with no input from fathers. Each cell has multiple copies of the mtDNA, making it the easiest bit of DNA to extract from ancient bones. Differences between individuals’ mtDNA allow the construction of a branching tree of maternal inheritance, leading back to the last common female-line ancestor. Thalmann used the mtDNA of many modern and ancient wolves and dogs to create just such a tree.